Quebec May Have To Swallow Its Pride for Funds

The latest chapter in the attempt to get Quebec City a new arena and the Nordiques back has Quebec Premier Jean Charest meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman at a game in Montreal where they had an informal chat about the prospect of that happening.

Again Bettman spoke encouragingly about the NHL returning to Quebec providing they have investors and a new NHL-size arena.

I'm inclined to believe him because he would have to be an utter cad to encourage the spending of $400 million of public money without giving something back in return.

Next week, the NHL will discuss the Phoenix Coyotes situation.

The group that wants to keep the team in Phoenix while playing some games in Saskatoon is supposed to sign a letter of intent for purchase.

But if the terms aren't good enough, the NHL has said it will start to consider other cities for relocation.

If Quebec can resolve its arena issue, it would be the leading Canadian city to get a relocated team.  Probably Bettman made this informal pledge to Charest, the Quebec mayor, and Quebecor, who has announced it is the major investor for a franchise bid.

The major issue is the arena and the funding for it.  Currently it is to be entirely publicly funded with $175 million coming from both the Federal and Provincial Governments and $50 million from the city.

That's bound to be explosive.  No matter that Canadians have said they want more NHL franchises, there is going to be lots of opposition to pledging public money for a sports arena.

The mayor and other arena advocates have also said that the arena is for making a bid for the Olympic Games, which would make the request more reasonable and appealing to other Canadians.

But that argument won't wash with the vast majority in the rest of Canada.  Vancouver is currently staging the Winter Olympics and it will probably be one or maybe two decades before the International Olympic Committee considers Canada again.

So what should Quebec's next step be?

A sports analyst at McGill University advocates what I recommend; build a new arena with private funds as much as possible.

That's how the Air Canada Centre in Toronto was built and also how most of Canada's major non-International sports venues were built.

So this is what Quebec should do.  Charest, the mayor, and Quebecor should be networking among the boardrooms seeking further corporate support.  And if they can't find enough Quebec investors, consider bringing in partners from "English" Canada or even America.

Quebec has always been in the hinterland with the rest of Canada outside the province.  It has had very little contact with "English" Canada.

Most of the contact between French and English Canadians occurs in Montreal.  It has been this way since the 1800's.

Quebec, by contrast has always been very insular.  It and the surrounding region has always been suspicious of and felt threatened by "foreign non-French-speaking" people.  Having little contact with outsiders has made the region the center of Quebec separatism.

But things may be changing.  Quebec successfully staged its 400th anniversary last year, deliberately opening itself up to "foreign" tourists.

It also successfully staged Canada's college football championship, the Vanier Cup this year.

If Quebec wants to get back in the NHL, it means opening itself up further to outside contact.

The separatists and nationalists won't like it, but if Quebecers have enjoyed their new outside contacts, especially in sports and culture, then reaching out to the rest of Canada for funds in the private sector will build new and hopefully favorable bridges.

I think, and most people across Canada think, that the NHL in Quebec with a proper arena will be a winner.

They've already made considerable progress along that path.  The question is whether they are willing to go the rest of the way to make it happen.